Parliament Speaker: Regrettably, none of ambassadors or EU representatives in Georgia dared utter one word about Denmark

“Regrettably, not a single ambassador or EU representative present in Georgia dared utter one word about Denmark,” declared Shalva Papuashvili, Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, at a press briefing.

In his view, the impression is forming that Brussels and certain capitals find it perfectly acceptable for peaceful demonstrations to be broken up with batons and for dogs to be set upon people.

“The footage we witnessed bears absolutely no relation to humane conduct whatsoever. And the fact that, rather than responding to this, we are hearing truly cynical statements from Danish government representatives that dialogue had broken down and that, apparently, this justified setting dogs on people, beating them with batons, and wading into peaceful protesters; that is, of course, wholly unsatisfactory. It is essential that the Danish authorities conduct a full investigation into this affair and that all those involved in this violence are brought to account.

I would remind the public that Denmark carries an extraordinarily grave legacy in the field of human rights. I will say once again that right up until the 1990s, Denmark operated a systematic practice of forcibly and deceitfully sterilising the indigenous population of Greenland. More than half of the female population was sterilised through deception and coercion, including minors, girls as young as twelve. To this day, the matter remains uninvestigated; the doctors who participated in this practice have never been punished and continue to practise medicine.

This practice has been characterised by many as genocide. That is outrageous when such assessments exist, that an EU member state committed genocide, and it was concealed for so long, and the perpetrators remain unpunished to this day. It is vital that the matter be investigated fully and that all those responsible face justice,” Papuashvili declared.

He further suggested that the silence of ambassadors stationed in Georgia might be explained by the fact that “they are afraid to criticise their own ally” or, perhaps, that “they themselves find this acceptable.”

“Thirdly, we have also heard reactions from the Georgian radical opposition on this subject; yes, of course, there was some violence, but then again, Denmark is a wealthy country. In other words, in their conception, this is precisely what European values amount to: if you are a wealthy country, if pensions are of a certain level, then apparently you may visit violence upon peaceful people, set dogs on them, and beat peaceful protesters with batons.

That is the Europe they envisage; the main thing is to be economically prosperous, and after that, you may go ahead and beat peaceful demonstrators and drive dogs at them. This is a sorry reality. And it is equally sad that not a single ambassador or EU representative in Georgia dared say a single word. Only two conclusions can be drawn: either they are afraid to criticise their own ally, or they themselves find it acceptable. I rather think the second explanation is the more plausible, given that we have witnessed precisely the same and similar footage from Berlin, Paris, and other capitals,” Papuashvili declared.